


Two Birds, One Summer

by ChaoticEther



Category: RWBY
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-18
Updated: 2019-01-18
Packaged: 2019-10-11 23:46:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,259
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17456561
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChaoticEther/pseuds/ChaoticEther
Summary: Qrow and Summer are sent on an impossible mission. But only Summer is truly aware of that fact.





	Two Birds, One Summer

The sounds and scars of their fight ran throughout the entire forest. Summer spring boarded off Qrow’s back over the Grimm, raining needles from her lance and into the Ursae. At the peak of her jump, she plunged back down to land beside Qrow, stabbing and dragging down another creature with her. The latter’s broadsword clicked and whirred into its scythe form, blasting the shotguns to his side for momentum and flying past a Beowulf before hooking its midsection and slicing it cleanly in half. Switching to corvid form, he dove between another group before returning to his real stature, spinning and reducing several more Grimm to inky smoke. Meanwhile, Summer planted the tip of the lance into the ground, using it as a pivot to launch into a kick, finishing off the monster with more well-placed shots. With a grunt, she bounced into the sky once again, taking another Grimm with her, impaled onto the lance and slowly melting. Pushing off what remained of the body, she gained even more height before throwing the weapon with deadly accuracy, taking out a Boarbatusk charging for her teammate before landing gracefully on both feet, beaming as Qrow shot her a thumbs up and tossed her weapon back with the other hand.

“Cloak bros. 6, Grimm 0!” She rocked back and forth while fixing her hood, lance slowly tilting over beside her as Qrow walked back across the clearing towards her.  
“I told you we’re not doing that throwback, now come on, we’ve got a while to go before-” He felt the interruption before it even manifested, reaching for his sword as Summer picked up on the same sensation. A crimson portal appeared beside them, both recoiling in shock and recognition. The expected mess of black hair and red outfit stepped through, expressing clear disgust at the pair.  
“R-Raven!?” Summer pulled her lance out of the ground and advanced towards her, rage evident in her words. In contrast, Qrow merely placed an arm in front of her, stopping her from closing any more distance.  
“It’s pointless following Ozpin, you know. Hasn’t he told you?” Raven snarled, reaching for her own weapon.  
“That’s rich, coming from the one who left,” Qrow retorted, visibly agitated by his sister’s appearance, “Surely you had something more important to tell us, otherwise you wouldn’t be here. Spill it.”  
“I didn’t- no, you’re right,” the Raven both of them once knew disappeared as quickly as she surfaced, “She gets one.” Qrow nodded in understanding, while Summer continued to look perplexed, “Yang. If necessary, I’ll save her. Once. No more.”  
“Rae.” The short girl finally spoke up from under her hood, pulled over to hide her reddened eyes, “I’m doing this for them. I’ve gotta try.” Contrasting her usual attitude, she spoke in curt sentences, finally making eye contact just as Raven moved to draw her sword once more. In that split second, she got through. She tugged on Qrow’s shirt, prompting him to turn and leave with her before Raven’s voice cracked behind them,  
“Wait,” Raven pleaded, sounding on the verge of tears herself, “Is Taiyang…?”  
“Tai’s fine. He’s got his daughters to take care of.” The bitterness still ran through Summer’s response, accepting that they wouldn’t hear any more from her.  
“Stop. Let me. Come with you.” The words were forced through gritted teeth, but those eyes were very much the old Raven’s. Both of them recognised it. Somehow, they weren’t talking to the bandit leader any more. This was their former friend, albeit changed by her current knowledge of the situation. The one that ran away because she was scared and got buried behind the Grimm mask she so often wore. Reluctantly, and still not turning to face her, Summer nodded, with Qrow giving a sigh of indifference.

Despite their reunion, and a marked change in Raven’s personality from when she initially arrived, the grudge between the three was almost tangible. Summer wouldn’t even tell Qrow her reasoning after they set up camp for the night, Raven understandably sleeping some distance away. He knew by now that her word was final in their team; it always had been, if she was allowing Raven to come along, that was that. As his watch drew to a close, he sauntered over to where his sister slept to change over. _Summer always knows just what to do,_ he laughed to himself, silently relieved there was still something in there he could call family, for now. That same look she had at Beacon showed itself even now, unable to hide it in her half-asleep state. If only it had lasted forever. If only she’d not felt some obligation to return to the tribe. Actually, Qrow believed it didn’t have much to do with the tribe. Whatever information she had that the others didn’t was the more likely cause. But, right now, his obligation to Oz was more important than that. Or rather, his obligation to Summer. Even though it was at Oz’s request, he was the one tasked with getting Summer involved again, after a very heated shouting match about letting her be with her family, at least. His thoughts grew hazy as his eyes finally closed, drifting off to sleep as Raven kept watch.  
“Why did you let me come with you?” Raven asked to the air ahead of her, “even I know you could have easily overpowered me by yourself, let alone with Qrow by your side.” A soft thud beside her revealed Summer was listening, as she expected.  
“I wanted you to understand. I’m not holding out for you to come back with us and have things return to normal. But we can’t just give up because we’re scared, or because we might lose. Even now I can see that part of you fighting what you show the world, that on some level you think you should be here. Honestly, I respect you for doing the sensible thing.”  
“Then why keep doing the idiotic thing!” Her ex-teammate practically yelled into her ear,  
“Because I have to.” Summer lowered her hood, casting a bright silver light over the entire camp. “Ruby -my daughter- has this too. It’s already marked her for life, same as me. Destined to fight. If I can make her and Yang’s life even a little bit easier, I have-” her sobs finally interrupted her words, “I have to.”  
“I can’t do it.” Raven’s resistance also shattered, seemingly at the mention of Yang, “I can’t watch you destroy yourself like this. I’m… Sorry, Summer.” With that, her expression steeled itself once more, drawing her sword and departing with a last look at her brother.

“Come on, sleepyhead!” Summer shouted, her mood a definite improvement over last night. Qrow jolted awake, almost headbutting her as she leaned mere inches away from his face. Looking around, the reason for the change became immediately apparent.  
“Where’s Raven?” He asked, desperately hoping she’d re-joined their cause over the few hours alone with her thoughts.  
“She, uh, she’s gone, Qrow. Said something about thinking she could be different, but it wasn’t working.” The honesty in her voice was practically heart-breaking, giving away that she really believed her friend might come back. “I missed her too, you know,” the silence from her partner leaving her to continue, “I think she did change, just not as much as we wanted her to. Perhaps not even in the right ways.” She pulled back, offering a hand to help him up before they carried on.

A slow clapping caught their attention not long after. Somehow, she’d found them. And was determined enough to appear in person before the pair with her cronies. Summer instinctively placed herself between them and Qrow, silver eyes already active. Salem responded by sending a barrage of magical projectiles at her, all stopped by her lance and unique powers. This was the fight she’d been training for ever since Beacon, and she certainly wasn’t going down without one. Holding an open palm towards Qrow, indicating for him not to get involved, she sprung into action, staying low to the ground until practically touching the witch, only to jump over the group and come crashing down. Despite her perfect aim, the lance was firmly planted into the ground instead of Salem, sending her flipping backwards to free the weapon. A writhing swarm of Grimm tentacles materialised beneath her feet, held back only by the silver eyes, Summer’s teeth gritting from exertion. She had no choice. Looking back up at her opponents, she stopped resisting, letting the mass engulf her. All that was left as the hands retreated was a mass of strangely coloured rose petals and her hood. Suddenly, a gust of wind swept both petals and hood into the air, the crowd watching in surprise.

With a sense of purpose, the petals began organising themselves into a familiar figure. _Her Semblance!_ Qrow gasped in realisation. Oz had described it as mastery of a transformation semblance, but the sheer degree to which she controlled her powers was as awe-inspiring as it was terrifying. Now reformed, she began her assault anew, petals dropping from her as though she were a cherry blossom. Cinder’s fold; at this point consisting of Hazel, a scorpion faunus and a recently recruited woman, Qrow noted, all rushed into action to defend their mistress. The faunus was the first to attack. Or rather, try to attack. His own eagerness would prove his downfall as Summer revealed an even greater extent to her powers, the attempted swing hitting nothing but air as she turned the arm into petals, dropping the lance before reforming it around the handle and sending him flying. Hazel, sent into a rage by the mere sight of another silver-eyed warrior, tackled her towards a tree, only to be carrying nothing with him and being kicked into the same tree headfirst. She unloaded a barrage of ice-infused needles towards the slumped form, holding him in place as he began to shiver. The woman had barely manifested her weapons before Salem commanded her to stop. Impressed, she took up her own fighting stance. Slightly crouched, with palms towards the sky as orbs of magic revolved around them. True magic, not some Dust approximation. Though the silver eyes weakened her somewhat, she was not deterred as she launched towards the young girl at incredible speed of her own. Summer responded by readjusting her lance for a better grip, coiling downwards like a spring before rocketing up towards the witch’s abdomen. As the shockwave settled, Salem tightened her hand around the lance, itself mere centimetres from piercing her and threw the shocked woman into the nearby rocks, her aura flashing, before setting her sights on Qrow. Planting his feet, he drew his scythe and jumped towards Salem himself, only to be dragged to the floor by Summer.  
“This is my fight, Qrow.” She looked up at him, a red line tracking down from her hairline, cuts already visible on her face and turning his own hands red.  
“You can’t!” He reached desperately, before being encircled by petals. Slumping down, all he could do was watch his best friend go to her inevitable death, the tornado of flora reforming and walking towards Salem. She twirled her lance once more, landing it on her shoulders and resting her free arm over it, walking casually towards the unbeatable opponent. A determined smile made a home on her features amidst the trickles of blood and dirt, oddly at home in the situation. Turning to Qrow one last time, the corners of her mouth flicked upwards even more than they already were before dropping back down into a fighting stance, silver eyes sending ripples that shook the trees around them.

Qrow found himself back at Tai and Summer’s house, rose petals blowing off him, unable to remember anything else. He looked down, slowly becoming aware that he was carrying something. A white hood, stained red and torn in several places. Taking the letter, she’d given him out of his pocket, he reluctantly knocked on the door, unable to say anything to his teammate as he watched him physically shut down the further he got through the letter.

“What a brave face, girl.” Salem taunted, her own twisting into abject horror as Summer’s only retort was to laugh near-maniacally. Her white blouse was now marked with dry red patches, another line of blood joining the rest from the edges of her lips. Anything resembling proper form had been thrown out of the window, her movements unpredictable and strange, strikes coming from nowhere near where they should be. She was dragged out of her combat-drunk stupor when the witch took aim at Qrow once more, seeing no way to win against a crazed opponent. It was practically suicide, but she had to do it. Her form changed with a depleted aura reserve. The petals danced around him, stopping the assault cold as he fell unconscious and lifting him away on a self-induced current. She placed him safely on the ground outside Taiyang’s house, reforming for what she expected to be the last time, her semblance having drained her physical strength in place of Aura. It was immediately obvious as she pulled down her hood, red and black hair drained to grey and pink, age lines set into an otherwise youthful face. Unclasping the white cloak, she wrapped it gently around Qrow’s hand before embracing him on the ground, whispering,  
“Keep Ruby safe. For me.”  
With a final gasp, Summer’s body turned to petals once more


End file.
